Security boosted as death-marred hajj ends

Saudi Arabia deployed large numbers of special forces on Saturday as pilgrims performed the final rituals of a hajj marred by double tragedies that killed more than 800 people.

Dozens of “special emergency force” troops were seen on one level of the Jamarat Bridge, a five-storey structure in Mina where pilgrims ritually stone the devil, and on which hundreds of thousands were converging when a deadly stampede struck nearby on Thursday.

Many more special troops patrolled the network of roads leading to the structure, which resembles a parking garage.

The tightened measures came after at least 717 people died outside Jamarat Bridge in the worst tragedy to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage in a quarter-century.

The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the hajj and manage crowds.

But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the throng, during searing temperatures.

Criticism has also been particularly strident from Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, which on Saturday raised to 136 the number of its nationals who died.

The disaster was the second deadly accident to hit worshippers this month. A crane collapse in the nearby holy city of Mecca killed 109 people days before the hajj.

Undeterred, pilgrims on Saturday still flooded the area to perform the stoning for a third time on the last day of the hajj, which this year drew about two million people.

Most pilgrims begin leaving on Saturday, returning to Mecca where they circumambulate the holy Kaaba structure before going home.

“We are thankful to our brothers in Saudi Arabia for this effort,” said Abdullah Ali, a 38-year-old Emirati, who blamed other pilgrims for the deadly stampede and urged more awareness.

“As you can see, people come from different backgrounds. They are affected by their cultures.”

Abdullah al-Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises the government, stressed that pilgrims must stick to “the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel”.

His comments, reported late Friday by the official Saudi Press Agency, followed similar remarks by Health Minister Khaled al-Falih.

The minister faulted worshippers themselves for the tragedy, saying that if “the pilgrims had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided”.